I’m 52. I love toys. I had a few Imperials and Butterflys as a kid. Could never work them properly and and never read the instructions and judging by the reviews on Amazon no one else does either. Once they got a knot I stopped using them. I once tied a piece of twine to a film spool and was baffled why it did not come back up when I threw it down. Now, I get the same excitement with yoyos as I got as a child whenever I got a new toy.

I don’t think that my excitement for a new toy will every leave. Also when ever I get a new yo-yo I’m pretty sure I get more excited each time. When I got my OD project I actually beat the mail truck to the mail box and stood there for like 5 seconds before I freaked out .

@zslane I agree it’s definitely an opinion thing, that’s why I did say “I think.” I never said you or skitrz were wrong, I just disagree. And yes, as an adult it does sound kind of silly to say you play with a toy because of social construct(norms? Perception? Whatever) but I’d still rather say “I enjoy playing with this toy” then saying “I enjoy playing with this instrument” then they find out the “instrument” is a yoyo

As for pool, “Billiards sports” and “cue sports(this is also what it’s called, I AM aware of all of this lol)” just sounds better than billiards and cue games. E-sports is a term too but I definitely don’t consider gaming a sport. Again it’s an opinion thing but people can can call anything a sport but I think there has to be a line somewhere.

@skitrz I agree it’s what you make of it that really matters. Also, I still don’t think I’m as stubborn as @codinghorror though so there’s that🤣

@Marm “ an activity involving physical exertion and skill “ we’re setting the bar pretty low for what physical exertion means if we’re saying pool is a sport. You could argue almost anything you do takes some amount of physical exertion but again, I think there’s a line that has to be drawn.

This whole discussion over what deserves to be called a sport reminds me of that scene from Big where John Heard’s character says “It’s not a sport unless you sweat,” leading to an amusing debate with a 12-year old over what was meant to be a dismissive generalization.

BTW, I wouldn’t refer to a yoyo as an “instrument” in casual conversation either, but I can easily see it being identified as such from an academic (and therefore legitimate) point of view. That’s all I was getting at.

I don’t notice much shaming with adults. I’m not active on social media, but I did get on IG recently, not sure that matters… most adults I know seem to be indifferent at most. But I don’t care either way tbh so my opinions aren’t the best barometer for the discussion